The Gippsland reaction to bumping the baby bonus

As part of the 2013 Federal Budget, the government has scrapped the $5,000 baby bonus and increased family payments (under Family Tax Benefit Schedule A) for eligible parents when they have a new baby. The cut will take effect on the first of March next year.

The decision has received mixed reactions in Gippsland. Here are some of them.

Financial counsellor

This change means more people will be seeking help from financial counsellors says Jane Anderson, regional director for Anglicare Gippsland.

The baby bonus does help low income families with the costs associated with having a baby, she says.

"A boost that can help them purchase some of the things like cots and mattresses are a great advantage to people," Jane says.

Anglicare Gippsland sees more than 3,000 people per year needing financial counselling services across Gippsland.

"That's a significant number of people that are having financial challenges and so the reduction in the payment means that they have to do without things like medication, like school holidays, that most people get to enjoy," Jane says.

She says Gippsland has ten times the average number of young mums seeking financial assistance.

The advantage of the transfer to increased family payments under the tax benefit scheme will simplify the process of deciding on the eligibility of parents for the payment, Jane says.

"One of the disappointments is the reduction in the amount that does go to families," she adds.

Parents

Alana Patrick is from Morwell and has been a recipient of the bonus with three kids, Parker, Charlie and Chase.

"I don't think it's a good idea, it's hard enough to support kids as it is let alone with no bonus."

Alana says she used the bonus to buy clothes, equipment, food, nappies, cots and to pay for a car and bills.

"You need money to raise your kids and so it's a bit hard being a single mum and all," she says.

Her sister Ashleigh Perkins from Moe says she understands that some people do spend the money for things other than its intended purpose, but defends her sister's use of the baby bonus.

"She uses the money to help start a family, it's not for a TV or to play at the pokies," she says.

Public

The ABC Gippsland Mornings program asked social media users whether they supported the baby bonus or whether they thought it was time for the payment to be scrapped.

Paula Kerr supported the move, writing, "It is what it is- a bonus! No one should be disappointed that it is being reduced."

Another Facebook user Anne Tisell described the payment as an "unaffordable gift".

Tom Ransley wrote "Really anyone with kids knows five grand don't go far. If you can afford kids or not you will always find a way."

Mothers also weighed into the debate on Facebook.

Samantha Stuart wrote she was very glad to receive the baby bonus, "We were the last to have our children so no hand me downs came our way now we have had ours we passed on everything... and we did not spend our bonus on a TV, we actually used it for our babies."

Academic

Professor Margaret Alston from Monash University's social work department described the decision as disappointing.

"I was quite shaken by the removal of the baby bonus, I think it's one of those signature social benefits that has helped people contemplating starting a family. I think removing it is detrimental to people who are at a stage of their life where the baby bonus was giving them support that they needed when they went from two incomes to one," she says.

Professor Alston says that parents will now have to consider whether they can actually have a family and how many children they have.

She says the view that the baby bonus was used to buy lifestyle items is too simplistic.

"The point is missed is that for babies to be born women have to move out of the workforce. Families now really need two incomes so that move back to one income is a really serious decision to be made... and the baby bonus was helping people with that decision," Professor Alston says.

She says research conducted by Monash University shows that the baby bonus was being used by women in rural and remote areas to access healthcare facilities.

"The women that we spoke to in remote areas, who had to move away from their communities, felt that the baby bonus was a compensatory element in their rural experience," she added.